Fr is hard to imagine a world without the large herds of domestic cattle found in almost every country. Men use these animals in many important ways—their milk and meat provide people with a valuable source of protein. Cattle hides are used extensively for leather goods.
Modern breeds of cattle were developed from wild oxen. They were possibly first domesticated as beasts of burden, but the Egyptians were milking their cattle as long as five thousand years ago. Cattle were also sacrificed in early religious rites. The ancestor of many domestic breeds of cattle was the huge Bos p’rimigenius of Europe and North Africa.
They were large
—bulls stood seven feet tall at the shoulders
—and lived in wild herds. Primitive man drew pictures of them in caves in southern France and these pictures can still be seen today. The last herd of these wild cattle, found in Eastern Europe, apparently died out in the sixteenth century.
At Chilhingham Park in the Border country there is a herd of “wild cattle” which are supposed to be direct descendants of the Bos primigenius. Actually these cattle are probably domestic cattle that were permitted to return to the wild several centuries ago.
The humped cattle of India, also thought to be descended from the Bos primigenius, are important to the people of Asia. Certain bulls of this breed are regarded as sacred and are permitted to walk about the towns freely. Asians have also domesticated the yak and the water buffalo, two other members of the Bovidae family. In the wild the water buffalo is regarded as one of the most dangerous game animals.
Wild Oxen Pictures
